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Category: Christian Education

The Value of Life

August 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

The Value of Life

by Debra Conley

What is the value of a human life from God’s perspective?
Try the following exercise to get students thinking about the position of their
established base values. This not only helps them to think in a broader sense,
but can be a defining exercise in validating (or not) their own values.

Give each student a piece of paper so that they can write
their initial impression and answer for the following discussion. Here’s the
scenario to give them: A woman is trapped in a burning house. Her children have
escaped, but her husband has not survived the fire. Two men are passing by. One
is the father of two children; the other is single. Both hear the woman
screaming for help from the upper level of the house which is already engulfed
in flames. Assuming that there are no others at the scene, which man should
help her? Why? Write your answers now.

Most students will think in the traditional sense, saying
that the single man is the one who should risk his life to save the woman,
thereby leaving the father of two to return to his family. Ask for other
answers they wrote. Now ask them to add these possibilities about the two men
and the woman in the burning house to their thinking:

1. The father of two is a drunk who beats his children and
his wife. His family is financially destitute because of his drinking. His wife
owns a million dollar life insurance policy on this man.

2. The single man is the sole support and care of his
invalid mother.

3. The woman in the house is a prostitute; the man was never
her husband and the two children are illegitimate. The children are old
enough to know about their mother’s occupation and desire to be in another
home.

4. The single man is also President of the United States.

The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. Do any of
these scenarios change your initial answer? What does Scripture say about the
value of one life over another? What does your answer tell you about your
preconceived ideas of the value of a human life? God is no respecter of
persons; He values each life as one He died for and that may be the hardest
lesson for us to apply.

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Begin with Praise

July 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Begin with Praise

by Debra Conley

The messages of the Bible are sometimes subtle and therefore
missed. Such is the letter writing habit of the most prominent New Testament
writer, Paul. The ancient writers followed a form that can be a lesson for each
of us as Christians in a perverse world that is headed for its ultimate
destruction. Listening to the news, which is always negative, or dwelling on
our own problems is easy and often controls our days. If any one had reason to
gripe about his lack of comfort, remuneration, or ease of lifestyle, it was
Paul. Yet each of his letters, after the usual greetings, begins with praise to
God for His grace and gifts. Read verse 8 of Romans; verse 4 of I Corinthians;
verse 3 of II Corinthians; verses 3-5 of Galatians; verse 3 of Ephesians, and
so on. In all of his sufferings, Paul praised God first in each of his letters.
While this was known to be a common practice of ancient letters, I think God
had a subtle message for us there.

What is the first problem you think of upon awakening? Do
you bark at your kids to get up or they’ll be late? Do you moan and groan over
the chores that lay ahead? If each day of life is a gift from God, then maybe
we should take our cue from Paul and begin each new day (“letter”) with praise
and thanksgiving for another day to serve and to make right what we should have
done yesterday. Children learn to be grumpy if their parents are. Let’s teach
them to begin each day with a positive tone and thank God for each day He gives
us. The mindset you put yourself in as the day begins is up to you. Try, for a
month, starting each new day with positive thankfulness for the day and for
your blessings. Read those verses of Paul’s each day; make a list of just those
verses of praise he uses at the beginning of each letter. See if the practice
of thanksgiving doesn’t make a tremendous difference. If you teach young
children, try singing this verse to the tune of Happy Birthday:

Happy new day to me!

Thank the Lord for my
blessings;

Happy new day to me!

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Explaining the Gospel

June 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Explaining the Gospel

by Debra Conley

After the recent death of Reverend Jerry Falwell I listened to an interview that a radio talk show “personality” had aired with Dr. Falwell years earlier. The talk show host had obviously never accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and from his comments had never heard of the concept. Dr. Falwell continually tried to explain through many quoted Scriptures the plan of salvation to this man. The host’s single retort was always that if that was the only way to heaven, he just couldn’t accept it because that would mean that Jews, Muslims, Catholics, and others who were good people would be excluded. After getting the talk show host to agree that he believed the Bible to be the word of God, Dr. Falwell quoted numerous passages which plainly said that the only way to heaven is through the Son. Again, the talk show host went back to his one “way out” saying if that was the only way to heaven, good people would be excluded. Other than the common blindness of the unsaved, what was this man’s problem? He simply could not separate religion from the Bible. I’ve said it many times to my students: the Bible is not about religion; it is about God and how to spend eternity with Him. If you are talking to someone like this talk show host who cannot get past the idea that what you are quoting only applies to your religion, be sure to point out to them that anyone of any religion can go to heaven as long as he accepts Jesus as his personal Savior. You might try using this example to help that person get away from connecting the act of salvation with any particular religion: if you want to fly to any given destination, you will need a passenger ticket, no matter what brand of airline you are flying. Salvation is your passenger ticket. Without it, you won’t get on the plane and you won’t reach your destination. With younger children, you can act out this simple concept. Divide the group into several named air carriers (Delta, United, etc.). If a child can quote the salvation verses like John 3:16, he receives a ticket and is allowed to get on the plane. Plant some students who deliberately gives the wrong answers (“I’ve been very good”) and ask the others if they should receive a ticket.

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Concrete Examples

May 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Concrete Examples

by Debra Conley

We all know that young children think literally and want
literal answers. They learn by concrete examples until an age of theoretical
knowledge is opened to them. My four year old grandson doesn’t understand the
concept of The United States but he can point to a map and identify his home
state of South Carolina because his father has shown him the concrete example
of what his state looks like. Yes, he still doesn’t grasp the idea of a state
or its context within the whole, but he has the first step in the mental
diagram of putting it all together.

I think as teachers we often neglect that simple rule of
teaching, to include concrete examples with the lesson. My own father was
especially fond of maps and so from a very young age I learned where I lived in
the whole of the globe and a lot about how to find other locations, read maps,
get from point A to point B, etc. I thank him for that as it served me
especially well in flight school and in doing a bit more traveling than many in
my generation.

So let’s make use of this practice in teaching the basic
Bible lessons. Students of the Bible should know where these events took place.
Buy a good map of the Bible lands. You might also enlist the help of a good
Bible Atlas for adding extra detail in your lessons, especially for older age
groups. Plan to teach the life of Christ with at least ten lessons for the
youngest students. Begin each lesson with a geography locating activity. Place
dots, pins, flags, or even cut-outs that display a relevant item (such as a
manger) glued to the pins. When you talk about Jesus being born in Bethlehem,
place the manger pin on the map at the correct location. Of course, the terms
Middle East or “the other side of the world” (if it is from where you are) may
not mean anything to the child yet, but the concrete becomes the basis for the
concept later. Another way to enhance this kind of learning is to make a puzzle
from the map by cutting the map into various puzzle-like shapes, then putting
the puzzle back together as you teach the geography. If you glue the cut out
shapes to foam core or card stock and laminate them, you can use them for
years.

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Teaching the Obvious

April 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Teaching the Obvious

by Debra Conley

Sometimes it is very necessary to teach what we assume to be
the obvious. Consider the facts of creation. Why does it matter that a child
knows the order of the days of creation? As long as he accepts that it
happened, isn’t that enough? Science confirms that the order of creation
designed by God is essential to the survival of vegetation and man at the very
least. If man and animals had been created before the sun and water, our
survival would have been nil unless God intervened. The order of creation helps
the skeptic to verify God’s creation as scientifically sound. The Bible was
written centuries before the scientific facts of man’s survival needs, such as
adequate water, light, and of course food, were actually studied. The ancient
writers recorded the order God gave them, not their own perception of the
order. The sound science was there long before the proofs of man. God knew the
scientific knowledge He would give man would confirm His creation as
legitimate. Don’t overlook this important element of creation.

When I was about six (during the last ice age), I learned
the order of the days of creation by using an acronym, the first letters of a
group of words used to form a new word or memory aid (Scuba is an acronym for
self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). My creation acronym is LOVSAM:
L is for the light created on the first day; O is for the oceans separated and
formed on the second day; V is for vegetation on day three; S is for stars and
the heavenly bodies created on the fourth day; A is for animals and M is for
man. Of course, this simple acronym lumps a lot of knowledge into a few words,
but I always remember the order! Whether you use a linear chart, or a globe
onto which the student can paste the items and number them, it is important to
later science foundations that creation be in its proper order.

Good books to read on this subject include The Genesis
Record and Scientific Creationism, both by Henry Morris. A newer and very
thorough book by Walt Brown (the Ph.D. from MIT brain of other science fame) is
In the Beginning.

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Choosing Your Author

March 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Choosing Your Author

by Debra Conley

Choose your author before you buy the book. I recently read a new book about the bubonic plague and its effects on the history of Europe. While there were interesting tidbits, a common theme of the book seemed to rotate around one curious idea, that the plague produced the mindset for modern medical science. Why, the author speculates? It was because God did not answer the prayers of priests to end the plague and spare them. Therefore, in the minds of plague survivors, God was proven not to exist and man was free to pursue these scientific advances free of the yoke of religion and its backward mentality. Extensive research has gone into, and is still being generated, about the causes and primarily the transfer of the deadly germs which enlightens modern science in fantastic ways. However, to lay the entire conclusion that modern medicine was advanced on the one speculation that God did not exist because He did not answer a specific prayer is incredulous. After finding some information about the author, I had to conclude that while he had viable advanced degrees in legitimate subjects, his mind and experience were so skewed by his long association with liberal entities that he was the proverbial frog in the boiling pot, out to promote an agenda rather than to reveal history.

We have all read books we truly enjoyed and then later learned something about the author that tainted our image of the book or (better yet) made us re-read the book in a more discerning light. This is an important part of becoming an astute reader. Take an aisle tour of most current Christian book stores and you will find every bent of religion, cult, and philosophy on the shelf. If one were to read every work there and accept them all equally, no one would have any true knowledge and total confusion would reign. If you made everyone you came in contact with your best friend, you would suffer the same predicament and none of us is that indiscriminate in choosing associations which will continually influence us.

I fear the fault is with the lazy reader who doesn’t take the time to learn about the author before choosing to read a certain book. Reading is the same kind of continual influence as are our friendships and should be sought out carefully. Of course, if you understand that the author has an opposing position, you may choose to read for understanding of that position (the old “know your enemy” approach). This is healthy reading and necessary at times. For the feeding of the soul and mind, however, delve into the author before diving into the book.

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Archaeology and the Bible

February 28, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Archaeology and the Bible

by Debra Conley

The Archaeological Study Bible

Understanding a work of literature by determining the
author’s intent and perspective is a critical element in the study of all
primary literature. Any worthwhile teacher would fail a student who assumed the
theme or intent of a literary work on his own terms without delving into the author’s
purpose in writing the work. We fervently teach that exposition (background
information necessary to understanding the work) is required for competent
analysis and understanding of literary works as well as speeches, dramatic
presentations, and even videos.

But the most important book we have, the Bible, is often
treated as passively as the “warming instructions” on a frozen entrée when it
comes to studying the author’s purpose in writing. Let me quote from the
introductory notes of this book:

“Awareness of the context of the Bible is an antidote to the
dangerous dismissal of history that we see too often in both the church and the
academy. In our day the postmodern outlook all but rejects history and context.
Under the influence of this movement readers simply refuse to hear the writers
of Scripture on their own terms and instead assert that it is up to each reader
to make whatever he or she will of the ancient texts…The author’s intended
meaning is thus rendered irrelevant to the modern reader, who feels free to
interpret a text in any manner whatsoever. Such an approach makes a mockery of
Biblical authority.”¹ Studying to show ourselves approved means more
than just reading Scripture. We must understand the Author’s purpose by knowing
as much as we can about the inspiration of the writer in his circumstance and
historical context.

This book is not an easy read. It is a study work, with over
2200 pages of history, sociology, geography, political history, maps,
chronologies, and genealogies. It comes with an interactive CD-ROM full of
color pictures, maps, charts, and other data from the book. There is text
concurrent with the history so that one may read Scripture alongside the
exposition.

1. Notes from The Committee on Bible Translation, The
Archaeological Study Bible (Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, 2005) xi,
note #4.

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Wise and Foolish Man

January 30, 2007Written by Debra Conley

Wise and Foolish Man

by Debra Conley

In Exodus 33:22 Moses is fearful of God’s command to leave a
place of safety, Sinai. God gives Moses this assurance: “I will put you
in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by.”
Caves are one of God’s magnificent creations and are also ones that He uses as
a symbol of safety and protection. Could anything harm you if God’s hand
covered the entrance to your cave? Read or sing the words to a great hymn
representing this verse, He Hideth My Soul.

The early church of the first century hid in caves, many of
which can still be viewed in Jerusalem and in Rome. Hebrews 11:38 makes
reference to Christians using caves as a means of safe travel through cities
where they were persecuted. These connected caves were called catacombs. The Greek
meaning of “Catacomb” would be “hollow in the ground.” The idea of catacombs
meaning a place of burial occurred only after these “hollows” were discovered
to be an ideal burial place. An excellent history and pictures of these caves
can be found at www.leaderu.com/theology/burialcave.html.

The Foolish Man and the Wise Man built their houses on
different foundations, one of rock and the other of sand. The song refers to
Matthew 7:24-27 and is a great illustration for our lives to be built on the
firm foundation, that of the Word of God. Just as caves protected Christians
from harm, a solid foundation protects us from destruction. Use the following
hands on demonstration to show students how a foundation that has no solid base
(one that shifts with every whim of the world) is dangerous. Fill a large wash
pan with sand. Ask teams of students to see who can build a house of cards (use
3X5 cards) on the sand. You can create a race to see which team can get the
most cards stacked the highest before it falls, or to see who can keep their
house standing the longest. Either way, the minute the sand is moved or
shifted, the cards will fall.

Now build the same house of cards with a solid base such as
a table top or game board mat. How much longer does the solid based house stay
standing? Discuss with your students what philosophies of this world can create
a base of shifting sands in our lives.

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Stories of Christmas Carols

December 30, 2006Written by Debra Conley

Stories of Christmas Carols

by Debra Conley

Stories of Christmas Carols by Ernest Emurian (Baker Book House
Co.) is a treasure of history about our favorite Christmas songs. I recommend
that every family include a few of these expository readings in their holiday
traditions. Charles Wesley, the Methodist theologian, is credited with writing
the words to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing as well as some 6500 other songs! The
Reverend George Whitefield, who worked with Wesley, published the words to the
carol in 1753. It was Jewish born composer Felix Mendelssohn who was asked to
set the words to music and composed the popular version we sing today.

The prolific hymn writer Isaac Watts, the son of an Anglican
Church deacon, wrote Joy To The World! This carol has been printed in more
languages than any other. The musical portion was added by George Frederick
Handel and is part of his most famous work, The Messiah.

Silent Night was more than just a song to father Joseph
Mohr, Priest of the Church of St. Nicholas, located in the Austrian Alps; it
was an event. Chief musician and organist of the church, Franz Gruber, announced
that Christmas Eve Mass (the year was 1818) would be done without music since
the old organ in the cathedral was broken. Father Mohr remembered that Gruber
played the guitar and instructed him to play the poem to guitar accompaniment.
The song was named only after the two agreed that their “silent night,” the
mass without an organ, was indeed their best.

We Three Kings is the product of Episcopalian rector John
Henry Hopkins. In his personal notes, Hopkins points out that the three Magi
must have come with a large entourage. Important people traveled that way just
as today. Hopkins also notes that King Herod might not have been as troubled by
the presence of three as he was by three large groups of people traveling to
see the new Messiah.

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Lydia

November 30, 2006Written by Debra Conley

Lydia

by Debra Conley

Lydia (in Philippi), the seller of purple dye, can introduce
an interesting study of the different occupations of Bible characters. Lydia
probably used Whelks, large marine snails from which oil is
extracted to use as a dye. The deep purple color was especially rare in Bible
times and that is why only Royalty wore it. No one else could afford the
valuable coloring. People of ancient days were resourceful, using whatever they
had around them for nearly every purpose. Young students may think that all the
beautiful colors of fabrics from the Bible times were made by their box of
crayons. Plants, including vegetables and flowers, made perfect dyes as did
nuts, bark, and mosses. Here is a suggestion for an activity but it uses hot
water, so be careful around young children. This craft makes a 3-D cornucopia
of paper. Use a large brown sheet of construction paper rolled into a
cornucopia shape and stapled together. For the items coming out of the
cornucopia, cut pieces of plain or white cotton or muslin into shapes of fruits,
leaves, or pumpkins, corn, etc. Make the cut outs large enough to allow for
shrinking. Choose natural dye colors for your cornucopia items: grape juice,
tomato juice, lemon and orange peel, beets, tea or coffee, boiled spinach
(green). Flowers such as coneflower, red cabbage, or pansies can be used for
pink shades. The dye will set best if the vegetable or fruit is heated in
boiling water. This can be done at home and the mixture cooled before bringing
it to class. The dye will not be as strong as it will if you drop the cotton or
muslin into the boiling dye. Whichever you do, after the fabric has been
stirred through the dye to the desired color, add two tablespoons of vinegar to
the dye to help the color set. Remove the cloth with tongs, smooth it out on
waxed paper and allow it to dry naturally. It can be ironed after it is dry.
Flowers, fruits, and vegetables can also be pressed or mashed directly onto the
fabric if you don’t want to use the boiling method. Darker colors like grape
juice will take to the fabric cold just by dipping.

Use the Wordless Book colors for the Cornucopia fruits and
then the centerpiece is also a witness/conversation piece: black for sin; red
for the shed blood; white as snow; gold for Heaven; green for watch and pray
now.

If a cornucopia is too much, the fabric can be cut into
strips, dyed to suit (use the Wordless Book colors), and then woven together
(over and under) to make colorful place mats. The loose ends may be tied
together in two’s or place beads, feather, buttons, or fun foam cut outs over
the ends and glue in place.

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